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Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

repebble.com

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Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#3
"What kind of battery is inside?

Index 01 uses silver-oxide batteries.

Why can’t it be recharged?

We considered this but decided not to for several reasons:

You’d probably lose the charger before the battery runs out! Adding charge circuitry and including a charger would make the product larger and more expensive. You send it back to us to recycle. Wait, it’s single use?

Yes. We know this sounds a bit odd, but in this particular circumstance we believe it’s the best solution to the given set of constraints. Other smart rings like Oura cost $250+ and need to be charged every few days. We didn’t want to build a device like that. Before the battery runs out, the Pebble app notifies and asks if you’d like to order another ring."

Uhhh... Huh... Ok. Welp, that's a nope from me then.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#4
Not sure how I feel about it being a throwaway device for $100. I get they say you can send it back to be recycled, but this feels like you’re just proactively creating e-waste.

Not even an attempt to make a replaceable or chargeable battery?

Also they point out oura rings need to be charged every few days, but that’s because they’re constantly chewing through battery monitoring your health stats. I’m willing to bet if they were in a constant state of deep sleep and only woken up to record short audio clips they’d also last for months at a time.

I know folks around here love pebble, but this feels like a miss to me.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#5
post #3

"What kind of battery is inside? Index 01 uses silver-oxide batteries. Why can’t it be recharged? We considered this but decided not to for several reasons: You’d probably lose the charger before the battery runs out! Adding charge circuitry and including a charger would make the product larger and more expensive. You send it back to us to recycle. Wait, it’s single use? Yes. We know this sounds a bit odd, but in thi…

> No charging: The battery lasts for up to years of average use. After the end of its life, send your ring back to us for recycling.

I shared your concerns but I read this bit and I think it's all pretty reasonable if you ask me. They're open and upfront about it, and you can very quickly choose not to buy one.

Who's recycling their Oura battery anyway? Probably nobody.

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#8
post #3

"What kind of battery is inside? Index 01 uses silver-oxide batteries. Why can’t it be recharged? We considered this but decided not to for several reasons: You’d probably lose the charger before the battery runs out! Adding charge circuitry and including a charger would make the product larger and more expensive. You send it back to us to recycle. Wait, it’s single use? Yes. We know this sounds a bit odd, but in thi…

So in a way it is similar to Subscription ?

Re: Pebble Index 01 – External memory for your brain

#9
post #2

Could we have the same functionality on the pebble watch instead, please?

already exists, here's one example: https://apps.repebble.com/en_US/application/56205296ece6340e...

or a search for 'voice': https://apps.repebble.com/en_US/search/watchapps/1?query=Voi...

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